Apparatus for sheathing the walls of and excavation.



I. C. MEEIIA` APPARATUS FOR SHEATHING THE WALLS 0F AN EXCAVATION.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 9,1914- 1,246,133.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. -EFW NLTNI- J. MEEM.

APPARATUS FOR SHEATIIING THE WALLS 0F AN EXCAVATION.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1914- I I 1,246, 1 33 Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

2 SHEEIS-SHEET 2.

BROOKL JAMES! e.. OIF

ToV all whom t-may; aannam.: i

eXactspeoication. l 10. This invention relates to appar;atus"for` Y Beitknownthat'l, JAMnsG. Miami, a citizenvk of the ,UnitedStates,V residingat Brooklyn, in the 'county ot Kin-gs and YState V of New York, 4haveinvented Certain I leW- `and useful Improvements in Apparatus-.QllSheathingthe ll/alls of an Excavation, of

which the: following is a' full, Qleanand oonstruction and hasV`particular refenenoe to mea'nsf, and apparatusfor sheathlngian ,6X1

cavvation ltog-prevent 'caving in while. a haul-:1:y dution, pier,footing, or other, structure, 1sv beingerected'therein,VLThe.imfentionls'especiallyY applicable to the `Yunderpinningl oi`buildings 'o1' .elevatedrlfailwilyS5A during" the.

building ofy subways. The foundations of` existingfstructuresfreqnentlyj Vhave to be arried` doivn'toor/below the level 0i thevsubway, withont, disturbance, 'Olf allowing the. surroundingearth to`Cave .in While the newA foundation isbemg erected..

The. intentionrelates to the; inode of- Velli-` y.caization' whereintheisdesfof the; excavation are sheathedf-iniseo'tionsasl ,it progressesdownwardly, lonesection; underlying another, andthere being'as many,Vsectionsy .as necessary to.; reach the. Ileqiuiredy depth, The

obj'ectsloif: the.- invention are toprevent cav: ing' in Whlle the.Wolgkxis in progress, ,andztd f avoidrr u'nmecessary,4 excavation. Themethods` bymhi-chtethese ohjeotsareattained .o(insistsy ini placinggui`des,f-t;hen .placingethe Sheath ging sides in--positions determinedby these,

guidfesto constitute. @sheathing section, and then;` excarating thematerial; Within the. sheathing` section, `thus fconstitutedf. t 'righeprocess. i-sjufrepeatedfuntil; the excav-,atlon reaches vthe;,requireddepth' Vand thenvthe permanent structureiis erected. Preferably, thesheathingsidesf are set or dri-ven, in 1an inclinedjr position whilebeing \guided,j an'd1 can thus be placed in immediate contantwiththeearth outside the pit, thereby? Savingnnnecessary .excunation;VvAlso, the-sides ofJ any,y section; `can `beset independentlyof.;ythezhothers sand thereby, desired, the' sheathingy can. be `igwithdLawn,asx the; struc-,4- :tiinalwork'proceeds,per1nitting it tobe; usediseitens f @insiemewherein#* arrete-Tus? ,Shenmue THE Wessel* AIN'Emmerich..

y rsisAsSiGnOs QF "ternehmen- 0e BnOQKLXN, YQRK 1 1 Patented .1.3,v1.91.17A Y Appliction-leril May 9,1914. SerielNo, 837,373. i

in. courses, each lcourse being of a height con4 l respondingiV to thedepth of thelr adjoining `sheathing section. As leach; colursejis come.I

plete-d-the sheathing Sdescanbe withclrafixfn.

Vinto the unfilled portion of theexcavation andj thus caring. in';ofthe. surrounding earth r is prevented by thestrncture. itself.VVVlhen.y

the. sheathing sectionsfare-placfed, they) are E suitablyY connected--toproperly locateE the.. guides` for the succeeding? sections. This also,n enables the guides'` Y to be tlvithdraWn ire-Itis..l

cally after thek sheathing sidesshaveSheenay apparatus.

The apparatns vforming a part; of im; l.

- Withdrawn," Whereitis desired to-re'coyerthe. Y.

ji. y

vention comprlsesftheseparable. or knock-Qi v down sheathing sidesv and,guides constructed.

to be readily set up andltaken 'apart in'carryff` ingout theforegoingmethod. Y,

l'lhe invention is Y.illustra,ted Yin the; iacooIn-rpai-lying drawings,wherelnM on an Figs. 6 lanoli--are Viewsy c,or'resporidingv to.: 'f

Figs. 1 and; 2,'lb`nt showing-a;modiicationin theconstr-uotionof'guideg, Y I

, .Eig-hiss sideelevationon;an enlargedV v scale; g f .Y e Fig". 9fi'sann ,eleVat-i-on of a detached guide,

and

Eig.; l0 is atopplan. ViewV oafguifde.k f Q l represents` an` excavationfWhi-,chg atzthe top: Where. `there `is .not mnchrpressure ihayy haveordinary sheathing- 2; 3` represents the.:

lowery portion ofY the excaiatiomwhich will,

be subject to external inward pressure and which employs the, specialmethod and panatus ,of thisinyentigon; 1 Rfeferringflrst to Figslfl toto `iforrnf inclifned gnidewaysI 8f in which' I'the .sheathing sides;l5l'canlbe -slidably' guided.

5,1m@ guides; i consists iof yangle.-iI-onsi 4; having,4 secured toAtheir faeecleats, 71 which 4are spaced apart'.

The; sheathing. sides 5y consist-of'metalplates n which` Stiffened at`their-upper edges by.A

angle sirens 49, properlfy'spacing the guides landpsl-iding the1sides-i5 *ntoft ej; l guideways 8. it will be seen thatgashea-t; "ngzseetion; will be formed! whichv 'will be. vri

sanstdefoemeten dile Westside-ipse.. .Hre-V and which will hold back theexternal naat-erial. Small holes Will first be made to receive theguides l, and then the sides 5 nill be driven into position and guidedby the guides. if desired, the setting of the sides may be facilitatedby making trenches betvveen the guides. After a sheathing` section isthus completed, the contained material can then e removed. Thereupon,the proc ess is repeated 'for the next section below, it being` observedthat by reason ot the inclinof the sides the lon/*er ones can be addedvvithout interfering' with those previously placed above. fis the guidesfor each section are added, they are connected by links 10, Which passthrough holes 11. so that the successive guides are all linked togetherin the torni ot a chain. but the sides 5 are all independent. r1`heselinks have the function ot aositioning' the guides, and also constituteconnections :tor Withdrawal.

l'lhen the excavation has proceeded to the proper depth.l thefoundation, column. or other structure 1Q is then laid, and bet'ore itsets the sides 5 of successive sections can be Withdrawn, leaying theguides connected together but substantially free of all entanglementeither with the structure or with the earth. T he guides can then beWithdrawn snccessiyely7 care of course being taken that the connectionsare inade of proper strength. 1t is not essential to this invention thatthe sheathing; be Withdrawn as the structure is erected as in someinstances the sheathing will be abandoned.

in some instances, it may be desired to employ Wood guides instead ofmetalA and a suitable construction is illustrated in Figs. to 10. Theguides consist of Wood pieces 157 which have cleats 16. 17, to tornignidenays 18. @ne end ot each guide 15 is prorided with a dove-tailedfzlroore 19 intersecting the `Quideway 18 and the other end is providedwith a dore-tailed projection 20 which ivill interlock with the groove19 of the next guide, thus linkingr all of the guides together similarlyto a chain. as in case of the preceding form, and properly locating` thesuccessive guides. rThe sheathing sides consist ot boards 22 which slidein the ,quiden'ays 1S.

he edges may be beveled so that they will drive easily. lt will beobserved that the `guideu'ays 18. cleats 16, 17, and doye-tailed grooves19 are so related to each other that the guides can be interlockedWithout interference. The method ot' usine' this form and building' upthe structure is substantially the saine as that before described.

1t will be understood that the shape of the excavation can be 1varied byvarying the angles between the guidevtays, and the invention is notrestricted to the rectangular form herein shown. Y

In practice. it is found that when the guides are properly spaced, thedriving of,`

i2 ineens@ the sides acts to tirinly set the guides in the earth. andthat earth or sand does not flow into the pit through the spaces betweenthe sides ot adjoinii'ig' sections. These spaces enable grout or fillingto be put outside the sheath' r it it be found desirable. Also` bypacking these spaces, the sheathing,l is readily naterprooted.

the use ot the apparatus ot this inventioin excavations can be weryquickly and cheaply sheathed and foundations or other structures erectedtherein Without danger of caring in. and Without unnecessaryexcavation`7 n'hile the material is all capable of be ine' recoyeredafter the structure is completed.

Various modifications and changes in the specific structure hereindescribed may be made v'ithout d partingfrom the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what i claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent. isz- 1. A sheathing for anexcavation comprising a plurality ot superposed sections each comprisingcorner guides and inclined sides slidably eneaging therewith. and meanscon necting` adjacent corner guides.

2. s, sheathingl tor an excavation comprising a plurality of superposedsections each comprising,y parallel corner guides and downwardly andoutwardly inclined sections slidably engaging therewith. said corner gui.es being in substantial Vertical alinenient, and the correspondingsides of said sections being subst: ntially parallel.

3. Sectional sh athing for an excayation, each section coniprisingcornersections, one individual corner section ttor each corner ot" theexcafatiom means to connect such corsections to the corresponding cornersections abore, doivnn'ardly and outwardly inclined guides on two sidesof each said corner section, and side pieces to engage said guides. f

4A. Sectional sheathing for an excavation, each section comprisingcorner guide sections, links to couple such corner guide sections 'tothe corresponding sections above, downwardly and outwardly inclinedguide flanges on tivo sides of each of said corner guide sections7 andfiat side pieces adapted to have their ends constrained by said.flanges.

5. Sectional sheathing for an excavation, each section comprising cornerguide sections, means to couple such corner guide sections to thecorresponding sections above, downwardly and outwardly inclined guideflanges on tivo sides ot each of said corner guide sections, and flatside pieces adapted to have their ends constrained byY said flanges.

6. Sectional sheathing for a square excavatioin each section comprisingourcorner guide members, one such member lat each corner, downwardlyand'outwardly inclined guide flanges on the two sides of each cornerguide member that face toward the two nearest remaining corner guidemembers of the saine section, and four flat side pieces adapted toliaveytheir ends constrained by said uide flanges. Y

Y'l'.wiectional sheathing for a square excavation, each sectioncomprising four corner guide members, one such member at each corner,means to couple each such corner guide member to the correspondingmember of the section above it, downwardly and outwardly inclined guideflanges on the twohaving its endsk constrained by said guideV flanges,and the latter being disposed so thatv they side sections lie in planesmaking` a slight angle with the'axis of the excavation.l Y A 9.Sectional sheathing for a prismatic excavation, comprising sectionalcorner mem- .l

Copies of thi'spatent may blev obtained'for klivey centsY each, byaddressing the commissione'of Patents,

bers lying consecutively along the respec-y tive corners of theexcavation, each corner member having,v giiideflanges on the two sidesthereof that face toward the two other corners of theA excavationr lyingnearest thereto, connecting means between conseciitive corner memberslying along the same .Y

corner of the excavation, and side sections extending across all thesides of the 'excava-f, Y

tion, each such section havingits ends con-v strained by said guideianges, and the latter being disposed so that the side sections lie inplanes making a slight angle with the axis of the excavation. Y

. 10. Sectional sheathing for.: a prismatic ner piecesV lyingconsecutively along the respective corners of the excavation, eaclrwithv guide means on the two sides thereof that face toward the two othercorners of the excavation lying nearest thereto, and rectangular sidesections extending across all they sides of excavation, jeachsuchsectlon' .having its ends engaging with said` guide.

means on `the' cornerv members and lcon-pV strained thereby so that allthe side sectionsV lie'in planes making a slight angle with the axis ofthe excavation.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses: J. S. WoosrER,

G. N. Kana.

Washington, D. C.

JAMES o. Mania;v

5o excavation comprising narrow sectional`c0r-

